Hat Creek ( Achumawi: ''Hatiwïwi'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed March 10, 2011

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

and tributary of the

Pit River The Pit River is a major river draining from northeastern California into the state's Central Valley. The Pit, the Klamath and the Columbia are the only three rivers in the U.S. that cross the Cascade Range. The longest tributary of the Sacr ...

, which is located in

Shasta County Shasta County (), officially the County of Shasta, is a county in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its population is 182,155 as of the 2020 census, up from 177,223 from the 2010 census. The county seat is Redding. Shasta ...

northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

. The creek rises in two forks on the eastern slopes of

Lassen Peak Lassen Peak ( ), commonly referred to as Mount Lassen, is a lava dome volcano and the southernmost active volcano in the Cascade Range of the Western United States. Located in the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California, it is part of the ...

Lassen Volcanic National Park Lassen Volcanic National Park is an American national park in northeastern California. The dominant feature of the park is Lassen Peak, the largest lava dome, plug dome volcano in the world and the southernmost volcano in the Cascade Range. L ...

, and flows northward through

Lassen National Forest Lassen National Forest is a United States national forest of 1,700 square miles (4,300 km2) in northeastern California. It is named after pioneer Peter Lassen, who mined, ranched and promoted the area to emigrant parties in the 1850s. Wildli ...

to its mouth at

Lake Britton Lake Britton is a reservoir located in Shasta County, California. It is known for its wide variety of bass and trout. Its main body is situated to the west of State Route 89, and is mostly surrounded by PG&E Land, Forest Service Land, and McArthu ...

near

Burney, California Burney is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Shasta County, California, United States. Its population is 3,000 as of the 2020 census, down from 3,154 from the 2010 census. Burney is located on State Route 299, about 4 mi ...

. Hat Creek is so named because a surveyor lost his hat there.

Wild Trout Waterway

The lower three and a half miles of the creek has been designated by the

California Department of Fish and Game The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), formerly known as the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), is a state agency under the California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Wildlife manages and protect ...

as a "Wild Trout Waterway," with restrictive catch limits. This area has a similar geology to the

chalk stream Chalk streams are rivers that rise from springs in landscapes with chalk bedrock. Since chalk is permeable, water percolates easily through the ground to the water table and chalk streams therefore receive little surface runoff. As a result, th ...

s of southern

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and is considered a classic

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

stream. The trout population is made of wild

rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

and

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...

of up to in length.

Towns

The main towns along Hat Creek are Hat Creek and

Old Station Old or OLD may refer to: Places * Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, ...

, which is closer to Lassen Park. The

Hat Creek Radio Observatory The Hat Creek Radio Observatory (HCRO) is operated by SRI International in the Western United States. The observatory is home to the Allen Telescope Array designed and owned by the SETI Institute in Mountain View, CA. Location Hat Creek Radio ...

is located near the town of Hat Creek. During the May 19, 1915, eruption of Mount Lassen, a

lahar A lahar (, from jv, ꦮ꧀ꦭꦲꦂ) is a violent type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a river valley. Lahars are extreme ...

or mudflow swept down Hat Creek and neighboring Lost Creek.

References

* ''Wild trout & catch-and-release waters''
"Hat Creek"
California Department of Fish and Game; 2003; url accessed October 26, 2006

Troutsource.com; url accessed October 26, 2006 Rivers of Shasta County, California Pit River Tributaries of the Sacramento River Lassen National Forest Lassen Volcanic National Park Gliding in the United States Hang gliding sites Rivers of Northern California {{California-river-stub

Wild Trout Waterway

Towns

See also

References